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02/23/2018, 08:36 AM
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#51 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Center Valley PA
Posts: 1,479
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insanely nice!
Do you run GAC or GFO at all?
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-Cody SPS Dominant 180 gallon. Link to my tank: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2618245 |
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02/23/2018, 10:03 AM
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#52 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Richardson, TX (Dallas)
Posts: 73
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Copps - I've really enjoyed following your posts over the years. I have a few questions if you don't mind...
It had been a couple years between this thread and your other threads. In the past, you've documented the various rare and unique fish (particularly the angels) that you've over the years. Is there anything "new" (since your other posts) and cool that you've added that you can share? How much time would you say you spend on your tank(s) per week? Given your tank is 3 1/2 ft tall, how do you go about doing maintenance at the bottom of the tank, like vacuuming up detritus / gluing new frags / fragging colonies / etc? Do you ever pop a dive mask on and lean half your body into the tank? That Gigas looks massive. Any idea on its size and weight? How long had the person you acquired from had it? Thanks, Geoffrey |
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02/23/2018, 02:02 PM
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#53 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: holmdel, NJ
Posts: 555
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As a current high school student with the tanks taking over, this is incredibly inspirational. Time to start planning mine!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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________________________ New Build in progress http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2528685 90 gallon DT, 65 Gallon Fuge, Chinese LEDs, LPS and Soft coral reef |
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02/24/2018, 06:16 PM
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#54 | ||
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Premium Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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 so it's appreciated... but I must say the true Godfathers and Paul McCartneys of this hobby are many... and were doing this as they say when I was in diapers...One of the Godfathers is Dr. Bruce Carlson... As one of the organizers of the 2015 MACNA I was the speaker coordinator... to show the level of respect I have for Bruce I chose him as our Saturday night banquet speaker... the biggest speaking gig in the biz... it's tough to sum up Bruce contributions to our hobby... but to sum it up... Bruce started keeping marine tanks in the early 1960s... in the early 1970s he joins the Peace Corps and lived in Fiji... He's shared photos with me of his tanks in Fiji in the early 1970s where he believe it or not had Acropora in them... before I was born... it's just amazing... in the mid 1970s he started working at the Waikiki Aquarium, and after getting his PhD in Ichthyology Bruce became just the sixth or seventh Director of this historic aquarium that's over 110 years old... he spent over 25 years there and pioneered the keeping of corals... was one of the first to "frag" overgrowth of Acropora, and had the first public displays in the United States of the Pacific corals we all know and love... Bruce left the Waikiki Aquarium in 2002 to be one of the designers of the Georgia Aquarium... the owner of Home Depot sat Bruce and few others down at a table... and basically told them that he wanted to gift an aquarium to the city of Atlanta... he asked that they make the best aquarium in the world... and gave them a budget of 200 million dollars... and I thought I was nervous planning my system! They ended up spending 250 million dollars... and as they say... the rest is history... Bruce is now retired and lives back in Hawaii, where his wife Marj works at the Disney resort and manages their swim through exhibit... I travel with my job to Hawaii regularly, and Bruce, my son and I went through the old aquarium... Here's a shot of us at one of their outdoor exhibits... Bruce realized that he was having troubly keeping Acropora and other hard corals early on... they had sun, and they had pristine water pulled in from the ocean, but he realized they needed flow... he came up with a device that is now famous and named after him called the Carlson surge device... you could see it on the left... it's basically a giant vat of water that slowly fills... and every ten minutes or flushes like a giant toilet bowl and provides enough flow to grow incredibly large colonies of Acropora... just amazing...  It's like $9 to get in this aquarium... no Shamu or flipping dolphins... but the exhibits are incredible...  Check these out... on the left is Tridacna gigas... the next tank has a carpet and magnifica anemone... the third tank is a mixed reef with Acropora... and the fourth tank has a mangroves and a saltwater crocodile... pretty cool huh? Well... this photo was taken in 1980!!!!! Literally... I was in diapers...  Many of their exhibits have inspired me through the years... this is another... I think around 4000 gallons... these are the oldest clams in captivity... Bruce got them in 1982, and while one has passed on recently there is still one alive now...  As an aside I am a hardcore angelfish guy... in addition to everything else Bruce has done he described the Griffis' angelfish... Apolemichthys griffisi... Another one of my huge influences who got his start at the Waikiki Aquarium (at age 12) is Rich Pyle... another PhD ichthyologist and amazing aquarist... the world authority on the Pomacanthid family, and a pioneer in deep sea diving... diving a rebreather with Rich is like having a friggin' beer with Sam Adams! Had Rich not just given a banquet talk at MACNA before ours he would have given Bruce a run for his money...   Crack a beer and read one of Rich's many great works... what a story... http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research...utz97/cmd.html How about the one who all reef fans look up to... the LIVING LEGEND... the great Dr. Jack Randall... Jack has described more valid reef fish species than any person in history... over 800 now... and has probably dived more than any person in history... Jack is now 93... but shares all of his knowledge so well... Jack can jam his hand into one of his encyclopedia sized books, open the page, and talk for hours about the one or two fish species on that page... in recent years he's had trouble getting around, so instead of me taking him and his wife to dinner... I picked up their choice of takeout and we ate in...  The list can go on... and this is just on the island of Oahu! These guys are the Godfathers and Paul McCartneys... rock stars and legends, and we as hobbyists owe so much to them... I read about them as a kid, and as you meet them you realize they all share a story that many of us do... we grew up as kids enamored with the oceans and coral reefs...
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/24/2018, 06:31 PM
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#55 | ||||
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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 I was depressed on that trip as almost all of the islands Acropora had suffered... so... I'm the last person to say my way is the only way that works... there are many ways to keep a great reef and grow coral, but no GFO for me...
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/24/2018, 07:17 PM
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#56 | |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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Don't get things because they're rare... get them because they excite you!Of course a bone for the angel guys... starting with one of the most special angels I've ever owned... it's on Lemon Tyk's angelfish poster that many of us have hanging... a Centropyge multiolor/ferrugata hybrid(with perhaps loriculus also in it)...  Here's a Centropyge resplendens/argi hybrid... this fish has survived many years and is a hybrid between the two smallest species of angels... he's avoided all six of my MP60s and survived the move from my old house... not sure there's a Centropyge resplendens anthing left in the US... if anyone knows let me know...  Flame/rusty hybrids... I fin clipped these exact fish years ago and sent them to Luiz Rocha, who confirmed daddy was a flame and mommy was a rusty angel... the first genetically confirmed angelfish hybrids according to him at that time...  The newly described Centropyge cocosensis... from the Cocos-Keeling Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean... I first got these over ten years ago with my joculator when they were just known as lemonpeels... but for many nerdy reasons we knew they were they're own species and just required time to be looked at...  A shot from back in the day... many remember my car key shots...  A shot for the anthias guys... Pseudanthias hawaiiensis... collected by friend Tony Nahacky on the Kona coast of the Big Island... male in front and female in the back...  For the tang guys... I'm a huge Zebrasoma fan... Zebrasoma gemmatum... the now much more common gem tang...  Hybrid Zebrasoma rostratum/scopas tang... a black tang/scopas hybrid... showing the black color and long nose of rostratum and the beautiful lines of scopas...  A shot for the damsel guys... (hey don't laugh!)... I'm the biggest fan of the genus Chrysiptera that there is and probably have ten species... this guy is Chrysiptera galba... from Chip Boyle's station in the Cook Islands... and a reefmate of the peppermint angel... 
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/24/2018, 07:27 PM
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#57 | |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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 A close up shot of those two magnifica... one is the traditional purple base to the left... the other is is a blood red base glowing green with purple tips magnifica...  And a shot I just took of the magnifica island... since the above photo a few years ago I've added an INCREDIBLE purple magnifica to the island in the foreground... and a blue gigantea... the leucs float back and forth between the two species of anemones... and don't allow any other speceies of clowns in the 1300 gallon... not even small, non threatening species...  A lower shot showing that purple magnifica... there will always be things that continue to excite me in this hobby... 
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/24/2018, 07:43 PM
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#58 | ||
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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Some weeks I spend a half hour a day for the week... with the minimal fish feeding, adding two part to predetermined cup sizes, and filling up topoff water... others I spend an entire weekend in the tank do a major reaquascape... I made a list of things I didn't like doing in the hobby before I built this system... and minimized the time I spend doing it... but of course the greater the square footage of your reef the more you have to do... but I'm a livestock guy and enjoy those things... Quote:
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/24/2018, 11:32 PM
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#59 |
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Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Palmdale, Ca
Posts: 12,413
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I'll give the Drs. Randall, Carlson and Pyle there own rockstar status, say Elvis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard but you're still McCartney in my book
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Rik Obladi Oblada, life goes on Brah! Current Tank Info: Tankless in TX and watching from the sidelines |
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02/25/2018, 01:06 AM
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#60 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Posts: 80
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John,
You managed to get this dinosaur of a member and long time lurker out posting. I was one of the first few dozen members who joined Reef Central way back. The hobby and its technology has come a long way and I have seen many monster builds. But I don't think any is backed by your extreme level of commitment. The size of the fish room is bigger than a downtown condo in my neck of the woods... Vancouver, BC. Simply amazing... Makes me wish I didn't divert my attention to so many different hobbies and gave up reef keeping all together... If you have a video of your displays showing the behaviour of the fish etc, please share. I will be following your journey more regularly. Kindest regards, Clinton |
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02/25/2018, 11:56 AM
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#61 | |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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Quote:
The clam was growing like a root. After seeing the gigas in Waikiki on a yearly basis grow I got a bit scared as I like to plan for the long term... the larger of the gigas the Waikiki acquired in 1982 was five years old... born in 1977... same year as me... and back before we had kids in the early 2000s my wife would accompany me to Hawaii on every trip... at the time they were weighing the clams regularly... and my wife pointed out that the clams weight... 160... than 170... than 180... was pacing mine... she would jokingly tell me to not outpace the clam... fortunately I've slimmed down a bit now and the remaining clam is probably over 300 pounds... So, I wondered how large and how fast this thing was going to grow... Early last year I had James Fatheree over my house... who wrote the book on giant clams... it was the largest clam he'd ever seen in someone's house... one of the questions I had for him was when would this clam start spawning... and would my 1950 gallons of water be able to handle it. He said it would and for me not to worry... in retrospect... the clam had already been spawning... just lightly and I didn't realize it. Then came Spring break of last year... I had a thirteen day Griswold family vacation planned that included Las Vegas, NV Death Valley National Park in California, Hoover Dam, Zion National Park in Utah (AMAZING!), and the Grand Canyon and Sedona in Arizona. A few days before leaving I did two water changes back to back... on the second water change my 200 gallon water vat was probably in the 60s in terms of temperature... not really a big deal... except that it triggered something catastrophic in the gigas... The morning the day before we were flying out west for this trip I walked into the basement before taking my daughter to the bus stop as usual... the lights were off on the big system but as I walked by my eye caught something in the tank... it's amazing how you know the sites and sounds of your system so well... the tank was cloudy... I turned on the actinics and saw this through the side view... compared to the views above of my system... I couldn't see two feet into the tank...  I was speechless... but I had two things going for me to my benefit... one... I was home for the next thirty hours... and two... I knew this cloudiness was from a clam spawn and not cloudiness from death... at least not yet... My skimmer had gone nuts... my five gallon skimmer bucket was full... we all know what skimmate looks like... and what color... but this is what the bucket was... LOADED with clam sperm... and EGGS...  The water change I had done with colder water had triggered a massive spawn from the gigas... and initiated many of my other clams to spawn... I watched some in the 4" range shooting out eggs... but the amount of sperm the gigas put out I could not comprehend... IT HAD TURNED NEARLY 2000 GALLONS OF WATER INTO NEAR MILK! I texted James Fatheree a pic... his response was "Cool!!!"... not cool to me I went to work wet skimming... and changing my filter socks... and had it nearly clear by the time we flew out the next day.I called up Joe Yaiullo at the Long Island Aquarium... a good friend and an inspiration for my system... he's a fellow NY Italian and he has that mix of technical and artistic traits required to have an amazing system... if you have not seen his 20,000 gallon reef you should plan to. He had been looking for a gigas clam and I had planned down the line to give this to him... but that spawn expedited it. I planned the trip and my father, myself, and my son drove this baby up... the clam was about 60 to 70 pounds... here's Joe receiving it... happy as a clam... notice the white ring of growth on this baby... the shell was almost 30 inches from tip to tip...  My son about to hand the clam to Joe... getting in the tank...  Joe almost fell over with it in the tank... it was funny because we got there after hours, and the facility was rented out by the fire department... all of these guys and gals dressed up... and there were wrestling a clam and guiding it into place...  Always a great day at Joe's! Here's Joe, myself, my son and my father... a great trip... that's Bob Stark in the background... Co-owner at ESV and creator of B-ionic... he came out to the Island to meet us... asked me how much B-ionic I wanted... and I asked "how much can you fit in your car?" ... he rolled in with his bumper near dragging... his car was filled with buckets for me to take back to Virginia... thanks Bobby!  And a shot when we returned the next day... you can see it in the center... this is the left half of this 20,000 gallon incredible reef...  So... my lifelong goal of wanting a gigas in my giant reef is gone... been there... done that... I had no clue that this clam could have taken down my reef... you think 2000 gallons is alot... but it's a drop in the bucket. Sticking to my squamosas now!
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/25/2018, 12:06 PM
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#62 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 1,234
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02/25/2018, 12:13 PM
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#63 | |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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Anyway, keeping systems like you are as a kid builds character... and allows you to appreciate those you have as an adult... without jumping on my soapbox I will tell you to plan your life like I planned my dream system... be willing to do a lot of up front work at your age... bust your butt... whatever you decide to do in life... a brain surgeon... a plumber... a teacher... bust your butt and do it well... for your hard work at your age will allow you to have an easier life later on, and build your dream system you want. I busted my butt building my system... a lot of up front work so that I could coast and enjoy doing the things I love with my systems... do the same in your life. 
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/25/2018, 12:18 PM
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#64 | |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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Quote:
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/25/2018, 12:28 PM
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#65 | ||
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Premium Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 2,679
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Quote:
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- John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only |
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02/25/2018, 01:23 PM
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#66 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 1,234
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02/25/2018, 05:18 PM
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#67 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: some where
Posts: 559
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With that size of system I'd be afraid to travel as much as you seem to do. What type of work do you do that has you traveling like that?
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02/25/2018, 05:58 PM
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#68 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Youngstown, Ohio
Posts: 484
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Do you rob banks for a living?
That setup is awesome. Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk
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It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen. Aristotle |
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02/25/2018, 07:21 PM
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#69 |
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Frustrated Stick Gardener
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: near chicago,Ill.
Posts: 701
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Hey John,
I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks for sharing your tank, experiences and friendships with us. It has only been a few pages but already you have given us contact with several legends in this hobby, yourself included. I have been keeping marine fish since 1983 and it has really been a treat to hear you relate stories of some of the greats. It is so nice to have contact with some of the "old" guard, I hope you can spur some others to come out of the shadows. Your time spent here really enriches this forum for all of us and elevates our collective experience.
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Scott Current tank: 65 gal DSA rimless, mixed reef, 20 gal sump, T5 6bulb, big skimmer, 40B Fowler, 20 gal sump, 4 bulb T5 |
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02/25/2018, 09:33 PM
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#70 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Palmdale, Ca
Posts: 12,413
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Quote:
 well said
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Rik Obladi Oblada, life goes on Brah! Current Tank Info: Tankless in TX and watching from the sidelines |
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02/26/2018, 08:24 PM
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#71 |
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Grizzled & Cynical
 Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Stamford, CT
Posts: 17,319
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Wow, makes my 450 look small ...... I guess it is small! Reef tanks are like storage, 'crap' expands to fill the available space
 or in the case of a reef tank, grows. Love the pyramids/zosters.
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Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs |
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02/27/2018, 01:17 AM
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#72 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Posts: 80
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Quote:
I had a 60 gallon running a DIY skimmer with a DIY needle wheel, DIY aragonite reactor and dosing kalkwasser with DIY MH lights then. Heck I was messing with the seaclone and amongst others was encouraged by Larry Maras to write more articles about various projects to boost RC's content back in the day. I went as far as researching with our local lighting manufacturers to prototype MH fixtures using 70 watt par lamps and cree LED etc but could not compete with the real companies who can mass produce the goods. The hobby was becoming more and more complex and expensive with members dosing chemicals, feeding live foods and using all sorts of new equipment claiming to be the only way to achieve your results. Then I tore the system down in 2007 to build a new home but have not set up another reef since. Interestingly, you mentioned kalkwasser and MH lighting in your system. So the technology race may be turning full circle back to simpler equipment. Mind you the modern digital ballast is a whole lot more efficient and dimmable than the magnetic ones we were using... Bremerton! A fellow electronics wiz who moderates the Oplug forum for my other hobby, http://www.linkwitzlab.com/, lives there. yes, the west coast does have some interesting sea life, mostly anemones, which took me on a search for tidepools to collect specimen for a cold water reef, then I thought maybe if I lived by the water I could pump water in, etc etc and ended up purchasing a lot in Sooke BC. I currently have a simple 5 bedroom rancher with a 4 car garage/shop (another obsession) designed as my retirement - summer / long weekend home... but looks like I will need to add a fish room now that I am inspired by your efforts. Hopefully you will list out your systems in more detail and perhaps a maintenance checklist/routine so a novice like myself can see what is really needed to achieve your results. Cheers, Clinton |
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02/27/2018, 03:26 PM
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#73 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Warren, VT
Posts: 1,181
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Simply wow. You have taken things to a whole new stratosphere!
Question....and perhaps I missed this, but did you use just dry rock to start this system or did you seed it with some live rock from your old tank? Interested to see if you ran into any algae problems (dinos?) others, myself included, have experienced starting dry rock only tanks or had trouble at first growing SPS due to lack of biodiversity.
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*March 2009 TOTM* *July 2003 TOTM* Current Tank Info: Eurobraced 187g Low Iron Glass Tank |
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02/28/2018, 10:22 PM
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#74 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 110
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Simply amazing! Well done, very happy for you and your hard work. It is a true work of art
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03/01/2018, 06:42 AM
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#75 |
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I love bengals
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Manassas Virginia
Posts: 2,512
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Thanks for sharing the new tank John! I am curious, did you collect many new acros for this tank? If so let's see em
How do you go about making sure no pests enter your system? Have you had any coral pests before? I would love to see this setup in person!
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